Javadekar says Smart India Hackathon 2018 in line with ‘Make in India’ initiative of PM

New Delhi: Union Human Resource Development Ministry along with AICTE, Persistent Systems, i4C and IIT Kharagpur will host the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon, 2018 - Hardware edition from June 18 to June 22, 2018.

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar said that the SIH2018 - Hardware edition was first such innovative initiative to provide national platform to young technical minds of India to showcase their innovations and creative products which can bring out revolutionary changes in crucial sectors like agriculture, health, clean water, waste management, automotive, smart communication, and education. The Hardware edition is the sub-edition of SIH2018.

Javadekar said that Smart India Hackathon 2018 is in line with the 'Make in India' initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was proving to be an important vehicle for scouting new ideas and help them convert them into products and businesses.

He further informed that for Hardware Hackathon, 4362 team ideas were received with participation from 50000+ students across 752+ technical institutions.

After two internal rounds of evaluations with support from industry experts, 106 teams have been shortlisted to compete under the 10 themes in the SIH2018 Hardware edition Grand Finale.

Javadekar explained that the Grand Finale will be a five-day event and will take place simultaneously at 10 prestigious institutions (Nodal centers) across India - IIT Kanpur (Drones theme), IIT Kharagpur (Agriculture theme), IIT Guwahati (Rural Technology theme), CEERI Pilani (Smart Communication theme), CSIO Chandigarh (Healthcare theme), IISc Bengaluru (Smart Vehicles theme), IIT Roorkee (Clean water theme), NIT Trichy (Waste Management theme), COEP Pune (Security theme), and Forge Coimbatore (Import Substitution theme).

Grand Finale will be judged by industry experts and investors. The top three teams under each theme will stand to win cash prizes - Rs 1,00,000/- to Winning team, Rs 75,000/- to First Runner up team and Rs 50,000/- to Second Runner up team. They may also get support from investors who are willing to invest in the products and make them market ready.

The ministry is also working closely with the department of science and technology to explore the possibility of hand holding the winning teams for creating start-ups with the support from various Technology Business incubators (TBIs) across India. Attempts are also being made to explore new avenues of additional funding post Grand Finale for some of the most promising innovations.